Typical Misconceptions About Virginia

the land in 10 of Virginia's 95 counties is west of Cleveland, Ohio (home of the 2016 Republican National Convention)
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS) National Map, County Map, Virginia

Some typical misconceptions about Virginia that we'll explore this Fall are:

- Virginia was settled initially by immigrants seeking political liberty and religious freedom

the first immigrants 15,000 years ago were looking for a meal. The Spanish sent Jesuits to Virginia in 1570 to convert the Native Americans, but the English who arrived in 1607 part of a private company and focused on economic opportunity.

- glaciers carved out the Chesapeake Bay

the bay was formed by rising sea levels flooding the pre-existing channels of the Susquehanna and James rivers; the glaciers in the last Ice Age stopped in Pennnsylvania

- the capital is in the center of the state

physically, Richmond is east of the center, about 100 miles from the state's eastern edge and about 300 miles from the western tip

- No volcanoes are located in Virginia

no volcanoes are active at the moment but much of the Blue Ridge is covered by ancient lava flows; one of the most recent volcanoes is "Mole Hill" west of Harrisonburg

- Roanoke is near the western tip of the state

it is a loooooong drive from Roanoke to Cumberland Gap in Lee County

- North is always "up," so driving north from Staunton to Maryland on I-81 is going "up the Shenandoah Valley"

John Smith and others drew maps where the top of the map was the western edge - and if you drive north on I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley, you'll be going downhill

- Most Virginia Indians live on reservations

Census statistics show that most people with Native American heritage who live in Virginia are located in Fairfax County (the jurisdiction in the state with the largest number of people also has the largest number of Native Americans)

- Virginia Beach has always been a vacation resort

going to the beach for a vacation is a 20th Century phenomenon; in the 1800's, a trip to the "springs" in the mountains was the popular destination

- Virginia's coal comes from the Blue Ridge Mountains

the first coal mining was near Richmond and coal has been mined commercially in the valleys west of the Blue Ridge, but the Blue Ridge is igneous bedrock - all active coal mines today are in the Appalachian Plateau west of the Blue Ridge

- All of Virginia rivers drain into the Chesapeake Bay

some Virginia rivers drain to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi, and others drain directly to the Atlantic Ocean through North and South Carolina

- the Chesapeake Bay is dying due to excessive levels of litter, bacteria, and toxc wastes

the bay is at risk now primarily due to urban and farm runoff with too much nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment

- Virginia's air and water pollution comes mostly from Virginia's factories

blame the runoff from our farms/yards/parking lots, the emissions from tailpipes of our cars - and winds that blow past the coal-fired power plants along the Ohio River

- Most of the poor in Virginia are concentrated in the state's urban slums in Richmond, Norfolk, and other cities

Census statistics for average family income reveal low-income communities are spread across the state

- Virginia lacked mineral wealth before Northern industrialists developed Appalachian coal mines after the Civil War

much of the iron and gold produced in the US prior to 1861 came from Virginia

Mabry Mill on Blue Ridge Parkway
(perhaps the most-photographed place in Virginia)

Native Americans in Virginia developed complex societies and at one point some communities built mounds of earth with temples on top, but Virginia's earliest residents never built temples from stone like the Mayans in Central America